Modular patio assembly
A module patio assembly includes a groundsheet formed of landscape fabric, parallel wooden sleepers connected to and extending transversely of the groundsheet, and parallel row of prefabricated deck tiles mounted on the sleepers. Cooperating hook and eye fasteners are provided on the top surfaces of the sleepers and on the bottom surfaces of the deck tiles for securing the deck tiles to the sleepers.
This invention relates to a modular patio assembly.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONU.S. Pat. No. 9,145,673 which issued to Hugh A. Dantzer on Sep. 29, 2015, discloses a modular deck assembly including a deck clip. As described in the Dantzer patent, modular decks and clips used as connectors in such decks are by no means new. An example of a modular deck is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,267, which issued to Hugh A. Dantzer on Apr. 3, 2001. The patents listed on the cover page of the Dantzer patent disclose modular deck systems and connectors used in the construction of such systems. In general, the modular deck systems are somewhat complicated and rely on specially designed connectors for assembling the systems. The inventor found that there was a need for a deck system which could be quickly assembled without specially designed planks and/or connectors. The modular deck described in the Dantzer patent is quick and easy to assemble.
An object of the present invention is to provide a modular patio assembly which is at least as simple as the Dantzer deck assembly described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,145,673, and which can be quickly constructed without a large number of screws or other fasteners.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONOne version of a modular patio assembly in accordance with the present invention includes a groundsheet; at least three parallel sleepers connected to and extending transversely of the groundsheet, including two end sleepers and a central sleeper centered between the end sleepers; two parallel rows of deck tiles connected to the sleepers, each deck tile including furring strips and floorboards connected to the furring strips and extending perpendicular thereto; and cooperating hook and eye fasteners on top surfaces of said sleepers and on bottom surfaces of said furring strips for securing the deck tiles to the sleepers.
Another embodiment of the patio assembly includes a flexible groundsheet adapted to be rolled to form a cylinder; at least three spaced apart sleepers including two end sleepers and an intermediate sleeper between said end sleepers permanently attached to a top surface of the groundsheet; two parallel rows of deck tiles mounted on said sleepers, each deck tile including a rectangular floorboard of sufficient length to partially overlap adjacent sleepers when placed thereon, spacers attached to a bottom surface of said floorboard for extending between side edges of adjacent sleepers when the floorboard is placed on the sleepers; and complementary hook and eye fasteners permanently connected to the top surfaces of said sleepers and to bottom surfaces of said floorboards for connecting said deck tiles to the sleepers.
With reference to
With the groundsheet 1 stretched out flat, the deck tiles 6 are mounted on the sleepers 2 and 3. As mentioned above, the deck tiles are rectangular, the preferred shape being square. While the dimensions of the deck tiles can be varied, in the embodiment of the invention shown in
The tiles 6 are mounted on the sleepers 2 and 3 one at a time, starting from one corner of the groundsheet to form the completed patio shown in
With reference to
When assembling the patio, the ground sheet 16 is unrolled and the spacers 19 and the boards 24 are removed. The spacers 19 are placed in the position shown in phantom outline in
With the corners of the first two deck tiles 6 connected to the base defined by the groundsheet 16, the sleepers 17 and 18, and the spacers 19, a clip 20 is used to connect the inside corners of the first four of six deck tiles 6 to each other and to one of the intermediate sleepers 18. As best shown in
As shown in
Referring to
As best shown in
As in the case of the first two embodiments of the patio assembly, the groundsheet 40, sleepers 41 and 42 and the boards 45 would form a more or less cylindrical roll. In order to construct a patio, the groundsheet 40 is unrolled (
Claims
1. A modular patio assembly comprising:
- a flexible groundsheet adapted to be rolled to form a cylinder;
- at least three spaced apart sleepers including two end sleepers and an intermediate sleeper between said end sleepers permanently attached to a top surface of the groundsheet;
- two parallel rows of deck tiles mounted on said sleepers, each deck tile including furring strips and floorboards connected to and extending perpendicular to said furring strips;
- complementary halves of hook and eye fasteners permanently connected to top surfaces of said sleepers and to bottom surfaces of said furring strips for connecting said deck tiles to said sleepers; and
- spacers for placement between adlacent sleepers when the groundsheet is unrolled and placed on a surface, the spacers serving to stretch out the groundsheet and space the sleepers apart by distances which ensure vertical alignment of the complementary halves of the hook and eye fasteners.
2. The modular patio assembly of claim 1, wherein said deck tiles are rectangular, the halves of said fasteners on said sleepers are located proximate the ends and at the middle of said sleepers, and the halves of said hook and eye fasteners on said bottom of said deck tiles are located proximate the corners of said deck tiles.
3. The modular patio assembly of claim 2, wherein the deck tiles are square.
4. The modular patio assembly of claim 1, including end border strips permanently attached to the end sleepers for forming a border along opposite ends of the assembly, whereby the groundsheet, sleepers and end border strips can be rolled to form a cylinder.
5. The modualr patio assembly of claim 4 including side border strips for attachment to the sleepers and extending between ends of the sleepers to complete a border around the deck tiles.
6. The modular patio assembly of claim 5 including a deck clip for connecting four corners of adjacent deck tiles to the intermediate sleeper including a planar base, holes in the base for receiving fasteners for connecting the clip to the intermediate sleeper, an inverted L-shaped hook including a web extending upwardly from one end of the base and a planar ledge extending horizontally from the top end of the web in a direction away from the base, the ledge having an outer free end for insertion between the floorboards and furring strips of two adjacent deck tiles, and barbs extending upwardly from the base on each side of the longitudinal axis of the base for engaging and retaining the furring strips of third and four deck tiles.
7. A modular patio assembly comprising:
- a flexible groundsheet adapted to be rolled to form a cylinder;
- at least three spaced apart sleepers including two end sleepers and an intermediate sleeper between said end sleepers permanently attached to a top surface of the groundsheet;
- two parallel rows of deck tiles mounted on said sleepers, each deck tile including a rectangular floorboard of sufficient length to partially overlap adjacent sleepers when placed thereon
- complementary hook and eye fasteners permanently connected to the top surfaces of said sleepers and to bottom surfaces of said floorboards for connecting said deck tiles to the sleepers; and
- spacers attached to a bottom surface of said floorboard for extending between side edges of adjacent sleepers when the floorboard is placed on the sleepers, the spacers serving to stretch out the groundsheet and space the sleepers apart by distances which ensure vertical alignment of the complementary halves of the hook and eye fasteners.
8. The modular patio assembly of claim 7 including a reinforcing strip mounted centrally on the bottom surface of the floorboard for reducing springiness of the deck tiles on a completed patio.
9. The modular patio assembly of claim 8 including a border strip mounted on outer sides of each of the end sleepers for defining end borders on the completed patio and preventing movement of the deck tiles beyond the ends of the groundsheet.
10. The modular patio assembly of claim 9 including border strips extending between the ends of the end and intermediate sleepers for completing a border around the assembly.
11. The modular patio assembly of claim 7, wherein the deck tiles are square.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Jul 6, 2017
Date of Patent: Jul 3, 2018
Inventor: Hugh A. Dantzer (Edmonton)
Primary Examiner: Joshua J Michener
Assistant Examiner: Matthew J Gitlin
Application Number: 15/731,595
International Classification: E04F 15/02 (20060101); E04B 1/343 (20060101); E04F 15/18 (20060101);